


Melting The Ice

by mrpicard



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Next Generation (Movies)
Genre: Bar Room Brawl, Blood, Blood and Injury, Concerned Jean-Luc Picard, Dorks in Love, Fights, Injury, Injury Recovery, Klingon, Klingons, Love, M/M, Medical Procedures, Recovery, Sheepish Jean-Luc Picard, Starship Enterprise (Star Trek), Worry, apology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-17 06:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11845761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrpicard/pseuds/mrpicard
Summary: A bar fight, a worried captain and an apology.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This little ficlet story is set between the [third](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1604264?view_full_work=true) and [fourth](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2625596?view_full_work=true) part of my In These Arms series but can also stand on its own.

_U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E_

_Sickbay_

 

 

 

"Ow!"

"Hold still," Pulaski ordered and raised her hand again in order to inspect the gaping wound on Alex' head that she had just cleaned.

"But it hurts!"

"It will hurt even _more_ if you don't stop flinching," Pulaski shot back.

Suddenly the sickbay doors opened and Picard marched in. "Alexander...?"

"He's here, Captain." Pulaski stepped aside in order to let Picard have a look at his lover whose hair and face were still covered in blood.

Picard stared at him in horror. "Wha-"

"It's not as bad as it looks," Alex said quickly. "Ow! Dammit, Kate!"

Pulaski shot him a glare but said nothing while she picked up the dermal regenerator, activated it and began to run it over the wound.

Picard quickly walked up to them. "What happened?"

"I got hit by a bottle."

"Why?"

"I told Captain Grok that he'd had enough bloodwine. He didn't take kindly to that."

Picard glanced at Pulaski, who shrugged and continued her work. "He hit you with a _bottle_?"

"No, Timothy did that. He was aiming for Captain Grok and... well... he kinda missed him."

"What?"

"The whole story? Okay." Alex sighed. "As you know, we have some Klingons aboard at the moment. They apparently decided to check out the bar, so they came in and started to drink bloodwine until they became a lot more aggressive than usual. When Captain Grok came up to the bar and demanded even more bloodwine and I said no, he got upset and grabbed me by the collar. I punched him, so he jumped over the bar in order to probably kill me. Timothy saw it and came to my defense, which pissed off the rest of the Klingons which then brought in the other Starfleet officers in the bar... and so on."

Picard glared at him. "I do _not_ tolerate bar fights on my ship."

"Why are you complaining about this to _me_?" Alex asked grumpily. "Complain to Captain Grok - _he_ was the one who started it!"

"But _you_ continued it!"

"What the fuck else was I supposed to do?"

"You could have called security...?!"

"I _did_!"

"Yes, when it was already too late!"

Alex leaned back, which earned him an angry huff from Pulaski, who was still busy with the dermal regenerator. "I can defend my own bar."

"Alexander, you punched a _Klingon warrior_! You could have been killed!"

"Yeah but I wasn't, so calm the hell down now, okay?"

"I most certainly am _not_ -"

"That's enough, Captain," Pulaski interrupted. "Please stop upsetting my patient or I'll have you removed from sickbay."

Picard glared at her and then took a deep breath. "Very well. I expect a detailed report on this - from both of you."

"Of course, Captain."

Alex waved his hand. "Sure. Fine. Whatever."

Picard opened his mouth again in order to say something else but a deadly look from Pulaski made him reconsider and he sighed, turned around and then walked out of sickbay without another word.

Pulaski chuckled. "Interesting."

"What?" Alex asked.

"It seems you've established quite a hold on our good captain - I've never seen him worried like this over someone. Apparently, love can crack even _his_ icy surface."

"Just like a bottle could crack my head, huh?"

Pulaski smiled. "You'll be fine."

"I hope so... I'll need all my strength for my next encounter with the 'good captain'."

"Don't worry about that." Pulaski adjusted the dermal regenerator. "I've known him for many years - he's probably already regretting his outburst."

Alex looked at the sickbay doors. "I sure hope you're right...."


	2. Chapter 2

_U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E_

_Alex' Quarters_

 

 

Alex leaned back into his pillow and was just about to fall asleep when the door chime sounded.

He sighed and opened his eyes. "Yes, what is it?"

The door to his quarters opened and a few seconds later Picard appeared in the bedroom's doorframe with a red rose in his hands and a sheepish look on his face. "I... erm... I wanted to ask how you are."

"Now that's the _one_ question you _didn't_ ask me during your rant in sickbay."

"I'm sorry, Alexander. I honestly didn't mean to lose my temper in such a manner."

"You acted like as if we'd just taken the bridge apart instead of breaking one or two tables in Eleven Forward," Alex complained. "Besides, Kate told me bar fights happened quite frequently aboard the Enterprise-D as well and you never freaked out like you did today."

"That's because bar fights aboard the Enterprise-D generally did _not_ involve someone I love getting hurt."

Alex raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"When I received the message that you'd been injured I was rather worried, and... well... I suppose I overreacted." Picard slowly walked up to the bed and then reached out his hand with the rose in it. "I apologize."

Alex smiled, took the rose, smelled it - and frowned. "Wait a second - this is real, not replicated. Where did you get it?"

"What do you think?"

"You didn't steal it from the arboretum, or did you?"

"I would prefer to call it an extensive loan."

"Now _that's_ some seriously thin legal ice right there."

"Let's be glad that neither of us is a lawyer, then," Picard smiled and sat down on the bed. "How long is it going to take for you to recover?"

"Kate says two or three days off should do it." Alex adjusted the pillow behind his back. "How's Captain Grok, by the way?"

"He's no longer aboard. I told him it would be in our best mutual interest if he and his crew moved on."

"In plain English, you told him to get the fuck off this ship ASAP."

"Yes."

Alex sniffed at the rose. "You know, this is the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for me."

"Romantic? In what way?"

"I don't know about you, but I would call telling a full-blooded Klingon warrior to get the fuck off my ship because he threatened my lover one hell of an act of romance."

"Hmm... if you want to view it like that..."

"I do - and I'm pretty sure the crew will think the same," Alex grinned. "Don't threaten the captain's lover or you'll end up getting blown out of an airlock."

"Now _that_ is a rather drastic assessment of the situation."

"Why? I'd do the same if someone threatened you."

Picard raised an eyebrow. "Why do I get the feeling you actually mean that?"

Alex smiled innocently. "I have no idea."


End file.
